As promised, I am currently cooking my way through a 1969 Food issue of Caribbean Beachcomber[1]. For much of this year I have been privately delving into older cookbooks, both West Indian in nature, as well as International. In many ways I have found that they have increased my love of cooking and my understanding of ingredients more than many contemporary publications. Many of the combinations and recipes have fallen out of vogue, and may seem odd, or unappetizing at a first glance. However by recreating many of them I have felt as though I have my own private time machine and, believe it or not, so far I have not had any flops!

This recipe was particularly pleasurable to serve as it had everyone scratching their heads trying to figure out what the main ‘secret’ ingredient was. The below recipe calls for breadfruit, but as I had none on hand I went with what I did have, cassava. The brilliance of the recipe is it takes many of the main components of an oil-down but recomposes them into the form of a cool Vichysoisse Soup[2]. The flavour is instantly recognizable, however because the style of presentation is so unexpected, no one puts 2 and 2 together. When all is revealed the look of shock is inevitably followed with “This is cassava? But… But.. Wow!”

I have included the original recipe below for those who want to see it, but have also included my own slight modifications. Although the recipe didn’t call for it, I decided to create some croutons from an end of homemade French Bread that was ‘suffering’ in the freezer. Pan-fried in butter and thyme, I believe they created the perfect round-off.

Serve and enjoy

Update 21/02/13:
I made this recipe on Episode 7 of my web series “Sweet Han': Caribbean Cooking with Sarina” Watch the replay below!

Beautifully shot, with simple step by step instructions and tips, these recipes have been tested exhaustively to ensure that you get the best possible results time after time. Each chapter also opens with stunning tablescape vignettes, designed to inspire your next dinner party!